


The good wife

by LittleMissKnowItAll



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Based on that Negan/Judith porch scene, Declarations Of Love, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Negan's a fellow Alexandrian in this, Slightly AU because of that ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 10:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9717155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissKnowItAll/pseuds/LittleMissKnowItAll
Summary: A little domestic Negan/Rick first kiss fic where Negan is part of the group. Why? Because I say so, that's why ;)Based on that 'adorable' porch scene between Negan and Judith...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unicornsfartglitter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unicornsfartglitter/gifts).



> I wrote this story for a friend, so I really hope it doesn't suck. It's my first time writing for this pairing and well, I tried ;)
> 
> Hope you'll like it! Please enjoy...
> 
> If you do, I would love it if you left some kudos and a comment!
> 
> I love hearing from you guys and am always open to new ideas/prompts <3

Rick had seen many things in his life. He’d been there to hear Carl’s first cry, see his first steps, hear his first word. He’d also been there at the end of people’s lives, hearing the last breaths of so many of his friends, his family. He’d seen the worst of humanity, but also the absolute best. The brightest of smiles, the brownest of eyes, those little laugh wrinkles around his eyes.

Rick had to almost physically shake himself from his little daydream. Focusing on the road once again, he noticed the gates of Alexandria getting closer and closer. He’d been driving on autopilot, knowing the roads around them by heart. It’s not like he had to look oncoming vehicles anyway. 

Stopping, he heard the soft click before the gate was opened by a smiling Eugene. 

“Anything good?” The man asked as Abraham, who’d been driving the second car, handed him a broken radio of some sorts. As expected, Eugene’s face lit up as he took the radio into his arms as if it were a little baby. Speaking of little babies, Rick couldn’t wait to see Judith again. 

They, Rick, Daryl, Sasha, Glenn and Abraham, had been on supply run for a couple of days, checking out a few towns further west. They weren’t untouched, but not nearly as looted as some of the other places they’d come across. Medicine, canned foods and drink as well as a couple of other things were stacked in the trunk of both cars. 

Parking the cars in front of the garage, whose walls were lined with shelves, Rick got out and popped the trunk. As he reached inside to take out a bag of rice, he felt a hand land on his shoulder. “Lemme”, Darryl said, taking the bag from his hands. He jerked his head down the street as if pointing Rick in the right direction. “Go see yer kids”

“Yeah, we got this. Go!” Glenn added, coming over to help Daryl. Smiling, Rick threw a ‘thank you’ over his shoulder, already halfway down the block. 

He’d missed his kids these past few days. Even in this dark world, there was still some light left because of them. Okay, maybe not just them. Negan hadn’t been ‘allowed’ to go scavenge with them because his foot was still healing and well, Rick had missed him. And not just because he was incredible with a baseball bat. 

Nearing the house, Rick heard Carl talking softly. Looking up, he found he couldn’t breathe. Carl was sitting in one of the chairs, clearly in the middle of a funny story judging from his smile. Next to him was Negan, listening intently to the young man, a smile of his own grazing his face. In his arms, he held a sleeping Judith, her head against his shoulder. He could just imagine the soft snores coming from her, those little noises she made in her sleep as she talked in her dreams. 

As Carl finished his story, Negan let out a loud laugh, immediately making sure it hadn’t woken up Judith. It hadn’t. It had however woken Rick from his second daydream-like moment that day as he started walking again. Nearing the front steps, his eyes still glued to the perfect family on the porch, he couldn’t contain the smile that threatened to split his face. 

“Look who we have here!” Negan said as he noticed Rick coming over. 

“Kinda looks like my dad, I think. I wouldn’t know for sure, it’s been so long, you see.” Carl added dramatically. 

Smiling at the kid, Negan got up slowly as Rick reached the top of the stairs. “You okay?” He asked, softly, as if not wanting Carl to hear. 

Still smiling, Rick nodded. “Yeah, it was a good one. Got a little bit of everything, mostly canned foods.” Looking over at Carl, he said “Hope you’re in the mood for beans!” 

“Always.” The young Grimes shot back immediately. “But not tonight, I’m afraid. This one spent the morning in the kitchen” He added, pointing at an innocent looking Negan who had started making his way inside.

Rick followed him in, confusion clear on his face. “You did? How’d you know we’d be back?”

Still holding a sleeping Judith, Negan turned around, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I didn’t. Just thought Carl would appreciate something fresh and homemade for a change. Poor kid’s been eating baked beans for a week now. You really need to teach that one how to cook, he’s hopeless” Negan said loudly, laughing as the last sentence got the response he’d hoped for. From just outside the door, they could hear a faint ‘hey’ before Carl made his way in. He was going for an angry look, but failed miserably. Clearly giving up, he held his hands out to Negan. A look of understanding passed between the two men as Judith was passed down to the younger Grimes, who took her upstairs. As Negan’s gaze followed the little girl, now sleeping in her brothers arms, Rick couldn’t tear his eyes from Negan’s face. The look of pure love he had whenever he looked at the little girl did things to Rick that he’d ignored long enough. 

He quickly looked away when Negan turned back towards him. “So, what d’you cook?”

A smug smile appeared on his face as he turned around to open the oven door. Seeing the large, brightly colored dish, just waiting to be heated up and eaten, Rick let out an appreciative moan. “Your favorite, of course. What did you expect, I’m a good wife. If Martha Stewart is still out there somewhere, I bet she’d refer to me as a catch!” 

“I don’t doubt that for a second” Rick responded smiling, earning him a surprised look. The silence grew thick within seconds, gazes locked on each other. Negan’s face had become unreadable and Rick felt unsure all of a sudden. Coughing awkwardly, he pointed towards the stairs. “Imma…I’m gonna take a shower. See you in a bit”

“Sure thing” Negan responded, turning back to close the oven door again. He tried to make light of it, but Rick had noticed the way his face had fallen. Maybe, just maybe….

*** 

The shower had felt like a total reboot, like it had added 10 years to Rick’s life. The only thing it hadn’t done was clear his mind. Luckily, his stomach was growling so loudly that he could push all those other thoughts to the back of his mind. Dressing quickly, in an unnecessarily nice shirt and clean pair of jeans, he went to check on Judith. The little girl was still snoring softly, completely unaware of the world around her. Rick pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before making his way downstairs. 

“Dad, is it okay if Enid and I help Maggie out tonight?” Carl had asked even before Rick’s foot had landed on the last step. 

Looking at his son, he could see the similarities between them today. Carl was wearing a nice, clean pair of clothes, new shoes they’d found in a store a few weeks ago and…yes, even cologne. Helping Maggie, my ass. He didn’t say any of that, of course. What he went with was a wink and a playful ‘Go for it’. 

Carl smiled up at him, before finally taking in Rick’s appearance and smirking. “You too, dad”. With that, he left the house. 

Shaking his head, Rick made his way over to the kitchen, grabbing himself a glass of water. He tried to ignore the way his hand started shaking as he realized it would just be the two of them for dinner tonight. 

“So, date night?” 

Rick dropped his cup, grateful for the fact that it was some ugly little plastic tumbler belonging to a picnic set. As he bent to pick it up, he turned to look at Negan. “Huh, what?” ‘Very eloquent’, Rick scolded himself. 

“Carl.” Negan responded, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. “I swear I could smell your cologne on him. And those new shoes? That kid’s looking for a kiss and not being shy about it.” Noticing Rick’s slightly rumpled appearance all of a sudden, Negan took a step closer. “Wait, you’re okay with this right? I mean, Carl’s a smart kid and Enid’s a nice girl and...”

“No, no…I mean, yes! Of course I’m okay with it, I just. I’m just tired, I guess.” He responded lamely, hoping wholeheartedly Negan wouldn’t take Rick’s excuse as a “You’re boring me, I’m off to bed”. 

Negan, still unconvinced, moved even closer to the counter. “You hungry? It takes about 20 minutes”. At Rick’s nod, Negan started fiddling with the oven buttons. 

For the millionth time that day, Rick found he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man next to him. There was something so horribly domestic about this scene that he almost felt inclined to move behind the other man, wrap his arms around him before softly pressing a kiss to the side of his neck while murmuring a soft ‘I love you’. Lost in his daydream, Rick didn’t notice Negan looking up nor did he notice him coming over until the man was next to him, waving a hand in front of his eyes. “Hey, you sure you’re okay?”

And okay, that heartfelt concern only added to the difficulty of controlling his emotions and actions right now. He wondered for a moment what the other man would do if he would just reach out, touch that clean shaven face, wrap his arms around that neck. But he couldn’t, he shouldn’t. At least, not yet. Because he didn’t have all the facts yet. And he really didn’t feel like messing up their perfect dynamic with a bunch of unrequited feelings. So he just nodded slightly before moving to sit down at the kitchen table. 

Behind him, Negan moved around the kitchen swiftly, getting them plates and cutlery. Rick took another sip of his water. It was doing nothing to calm him down. Maybe another swig…Nope. God, why hadn’t he just gone for a beer? 

“You want a beer?” Negan asked suddenly and Rick turned his head faster than humanly possible. Shit, had he just said that out loud?

“What?” He asked, shocked.

Smiling, Negan bent down to get two cans from the fridge. “I’ll take that as a yes. It’s been a long week, you’ve earned it”. With that, he pressed the can into Rick’s hand. 

Rick’s been using his hands since birth, has used them while playing sports, while writing, while working and while flirting. He’s handed things to other people, has taken and received things from others in them for years. So why was it so hard to take the can from Negan’s hand? Why was he now holding the other man’s hand? And why the hell was Negan not doing anything about it? 

Still holding Negan’s hand, Rick slowly started rubbing his thumb along the back of it. 

He heard Negan take a slow, deep breath, still frozen in place. “Rick?”

He let go, setting the can on the table before getting up. The flash of movement had thrown Negan off and before he knew it, his lower back hit the counter. Rick was in front of him in seconds, not actually pushing him up against it, but not giving him any space either. 

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.” Rick said, looking into Negan’s eyes, feelings bare. “A really long time. But I’m done wondering. Life’s too damn short. So I’m just gonna ask...Do you want this?” There was a fire in his voice, a passion burning from deep within. His heart was beating loudly and he wondered for a second if Negan could hear it too. “Do you want…me?”

He felt vulnerable, as if he was going to be sick and going to fall apart at the same time. His eyes still locked onto Negan’s, he couldn’t wait for the other man to make a move. Any move. 

As Rick felt a hand tightening around his heart and squeezing, Negan closed his eyes. A smile slowly took over his face, bright and happy and unlike anything Rick had ever seen before. “You’re an idiot, did you know that?”

Okay, not exactly what Rick had hoped for.

Slowly, Negan opened his eyes again, smile still in place. “I was beginning to wonder if I should just propose already, seeing as my numerous hints…and god, they have been numerous…didn’t seem to have any effect on you.” With that, he leaned forward and caught Rick’s lips. It was a bit awkward for a second, their huge smiles making it hard to actually lock lips. But as soon as Negan’s hands found Rick’s hips and pulled him closer, the kiss became more passionate. A feeling of ‘fucking finally’ left them both as their lips slotted together perfectly, noses bumping softly as Rick trailed a hand up Negan’s arm. They broke away to breathe as Rick’s hand came to rest on Negan’s jaw, enjoying the clean shaven feeling. He couldn’t deny he missed the beard though, it added just that little bit of extra ruggedness to his already perfect face. 

“I take it that’s a yes, then.” Rick smiled shyly, running his thumb along Negan’s jaw one last time before moving his hand down his neck again. Judging from the soft moan leaving the other man’s lips, he’d made the right move. 

“For you, it’s always yes. You seriously hadn’t guessed from all my ‘wifey’ jokes?” Negan laughed, before diving back in, capturing Rick’s mouth as the other man was about to make a no doubt witty response. Rick didn’t seem to mind though, judging from the enthusiasm of his lips. 

 

And well, if their dinner was slightly burned that evening, neither man seemed to care.


End file.
